Crown prosecutors Louis Bouthillier and Helene Di Salvo arrive for a video court appearance of Luka Magnotta, the Montreal suspect in the gruesome dismemberment murder of Lin Jun, Tuesday, June 19, 2012 in Montreal. Magnotta has pleaded not guilty.Paul Chiasson
/ Canadian Press

Lawyer Pierre Panaccio arrives for the video court appearance of his client Luka Rocco Magnotta, the Montreal suspect in a gruesome dismemberment-murder of Lin Jun, Tuesday, June 19, 2012 in Montreal. Magnotta has pleaded not guilty.Paul Chiasson
/ Canadian Press

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MONTREAL - A wan and impassive Luka Rocco Magnotta pleaded not guilty to murder in the first degree via a video link at the Montreal courthouse Tuesday.

His lawyer will likely be requesting a psychiatric evaluation Thursday to determine if Magnotta can be held criminally responsible for the crimes with which he is charged.

Appearing via a video link to a courtroom packed to overflowing with journalists, gawkers and even high-school students, Magnotta stood handcuffed and motionless, uttering only one word in a slow drawl during his five-minute appearance: “O-kayyyy.” His utterance was in response to a request his lawyer, Pierre Panaccio, made about calling him Tuesday evening.

Magnotta is suspected of killing and dismembering 33-year-old Lin Jun in Magnotta’s Snowdon apartment on the night of May 24 to 25, posting video of the crime on the Internet and mailing body parts to four locations across Canada. He was captured by police in Berlin on June 4, and returned to Montreal amid tight security in a Canadian Air Force plane Monday evening.

“The most important charge is the charge of murder in the first degree,” said prosecutor Louis Bouthillier, one of two well-known prosecutors assigned to the case, along with Hélène di Salvo. “It’s a charge for a murder that was premeditated, carried out in a deliberate fashion, and obviously it is the charge on which the case against Mr. Magnotta will turn. The other charges are secondary.”

Given the depth of the investigation, the prosecutors said they expected it to be a lengthy trial. No new information has arisen, but prosecutors noted that the case is still under investigation and new charges could be forthcoming. Lin’s head is still missing, and police are eager to find it to ease the suffering of Lin’s parents, who came to Montreal from their home in China on June 7 to retrieve their son’s body.

Citing security concerns given the intense media coverage surrounding Magnotta’s case, police are reluctant to transport him unless necessary. He appeared via video from the Montreal police force’s northern operations centre on Tuesday, and was transferred to an undisclosed prison after his plea was entered. On Thursday he will again appear via a video link, at which point his lawyer said he would likely file a request for a psychiatric evaluation. Unless the judge can cite reasonable motive not to do so, Magnotta will be transferred to a psychiatric institution to be evaluated for up to 30 days.

In an indication of the widespread interest the case has generated, half a dozen Grade 7 students from the top-ranked Montreal private high school Regina Assumpta were among the more than 60 people lining up to get into the courtroom Tuesday.

Nykolas, 13, said he was there because he wants to be a lawyer. He’s interested not in the violence, he said, but in how Magnotta’s lawyer will mount a defence given the mountain of evidence presented against him. His mother, he said, was aware of his whereabouts.

“She asked if it might be too disturbing for me, but I said no — it’s the law I’m there for,” he said.

The discovery of Lin’s remains in a suitcase behind Magnotta’s apartment building on May 29 sparked an international manhunt. It culminated with Magnotta being recognized and apprehended without a fight as he read stories about himself in an Internet café.

Prosecutor Di Salvo said they would be contacting Lin’s family soon.

“It’s the beginning of a very long year or two years,” Di Salvo said when asked what the prosecutors would tell the family. “We want them to believe in our justice system, and to do our best to reassure them that we will work very hard in this case. And that even if they are very far from Montreal, we will keep them informed. “This is very hard for the family.”

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